Saturday morning- Met with the Minister of Infrastructure to show him my design for a new passenger terminal at the airport. As we drove through town on the way, we saw that the old market had been demolished overnight. Taiwan recently constructed a new one a couple blocks away, but a handful of vendors were resisting moving. So the Minister of Infrastructure had ordered its midnight demolition, ala Mayer Daley with Meigs Field in Chicago, though with much broader public support. Elsa and Arnaldo, from the Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Seguranca Aerea (ENASA), also attended our meeting with the Minister. I presented to him informally on my laptop, sitting to his right, speaking Portuguese, with Jorge sitting to his left ready to translate when needed.
We presented the project as one non-binding option amidst the larger planning scheme of the airport, which has been influenced by multiple professional consultants. The project is my Master’s Thesis and represents a full year of design work. As a student I have been able to explore aspects of the design that are often neglected in professional practice, where design time and efficiency can be limiting. I have investigated how to design a building appropriate to Sao Tome, in regards to climate, materials, and labor. The design respects the history and current identity of Sao Tome and simultaneously seeks to create a modern image for the budding young nation. I have worked outside of political affiliations and seek only to design in a manner respectful to Sao Tome, adherent to the philosophies of Critical Regionalism. It is currently only a student project, but I have worked with numerous professors and practicing professionals. The design, while still in the conceptual phase, is realistic. It includes a phasing plan and describes a phased growth process which coincides with extension of the runway. There is historic precedence of student architecture projects becoming built reality, and we allow for the possibility that this project could be carried into professional practice and developed further.
The Minister liked the design. He (without any commitment) expressed interest in investigating it further and conversing with professionals, as a possible component of the overall planning scheme of the airport. He proceeded to the next obvious question: how much will it cost and how will it be funded? I look forward to witnessing and participating, however I may be of use, in the process of development funding for a project that could be of great benefit to the economy and cultural identity of Sao Tome.
Another Santomean architect was also coincidently on hand at the Minister’s office, and when I presented it to her, she received it very enthusiastically, appreciating the depth of thought I have put into the design. It was a successful morning.
